Beverage dispensers are widely used to dispense drinks in a variety of establishments. Fast-food outlets, roadside convenience stores, re-fueling stations, and cafeterias are examples of locations involving high volume consumption of soft drinks. Because of the high volume, these dispensers must have sophisticated systems for storing and delivering the components expected in a drink: ice, water (carbonated or non-carbonated), and syrup, the latter two in a properly-mixed proportion. By syrup is meant any drink syrup or concentrate that is meant to be mixed with water, carbonated water, or non-carbonated water, before a beverage with the syrup or concentrate is consumed. Syrups may include soft-drink syrup, citrus concentrate such as lemonade, any “iced-tea” type concentrate, or other flavoring suitable for mixing with water before consuming.
Water and syrup should be cooled before being dispensed, and ice may typically also be dispensed with a beverage. Such high volume dispensers require considerable installation time and tend to be large and expensive, with undercounter or backroom storage of pressurized syrup tanks and associated tubing, and heat exchangers chilling the water and syrup to the precisely desired degree in time for dispensing and serving.
A facility with lower volume requirements does not need such an expensive and sophisticated system, but may still wish to deliver the authentic taste of a freshly-mixed (“post-mixed”) carbonated or non-carbonated drink. In this case what is needed is a lower-volume soft-drink dispenser, costing much less and requiring less of a “footprint” area for its placement on the floor of a kitchen, a cafeteria or a break area.
However, once a smaller machine is purchased and installed, demand may change and outpace the ability of the beverage dispenser to quickly dispense the required quantity of beverages. In addition, new flavors may need to be added for marketing purposes and in response to consumer tastes and demands. On the other hand, if a larger machine is purchased and demand falls, the space required for the larger machine may not be justified by the lower demand for its use. What is needed is a beverage dispenser that is able to expand in size if additional flavors are desired, or if demand increases. What is also needed is a beverage dispenser that may require less space if demand drops. These needs are met by beverage dispenser using embodiments of the present invention.